Where Is She
by AnonymousPhantomer
Summary: Paulina suddenly wants Danny, who's lately all about Sam. Why does she want him so bad? And what will she do to get him? Also, what is Desiree's new plan? R&R please! DxS! Rated T for slight torture.
1. Chapter One

**Set before Phantom Planet**

Tuesday: one of the worst days of the week, especially for Danny Fenton. The acclaimed Casper High football team quarterback had weekly algebra quizzes every Tuesday. And it was no surprise that he hated math. Every Tuesday when he failed his quiz, he took out his frustration on his favorite "nerd".  
Danny looked around the cafeteria uneasily. He hadn't seen Dash all morning, and he knew Dash did poorly on his quiz.  
"Relax, man," Tucker said.  
"I can't!" Danny exclaimed. "All year, Dash fails these quizzes, and tortures me because of it! Every Tuesday of this year, Tuck!"  
"Maybe this Tuesday he won't," Tucker tried again, trying to calm his best friend down.  
Danny didn't look any more at ease. He kept scanning the cafeteria, waiting, not even touching his food.  
"Well I haven't seen him all morning," Sam tried. "Maybe he's not here?"  
He seemed to calm down when she spoke. Danny let out a sigh, and smiled weakly at Sam. She smiled back and put her hand on his shoulder.  
Two years had passed since Danny acquired his powers, and in those two years, he began to feel stronger about his friendship with Sam. He wasted his time chasing Paulina and Valarie, and he hated knowing that. Now all of his attention was focused on his best friend, who secretly had feelings for him too.  
"Nah," Tucker interjected. "I saw him in gym. He looked pretty mad about something."  
Danny's shoulder's stiffened, and he began to search the cafeteria again. His nerves were again getting the best of him. Sam rubbed her temples in frustration.  
"You know, Tucker, maybe I should start calling you the clueless one," Sam frowned at him.  
"Opps," Tucker smiled awkwardly, aware that he had just set Danny back to step one.  
Without warning, Danny's ghost sense went off. He stood up, ready and waiting. Nothing happened. Sam and Tucker also scanned the scene, looking for the ghost. The cafeteria seemed normal: quiet and nothing out of the ordinary was happening.  
"Something's not right…" Danny muttered, still searching. "I'm going to look, you guys stay here and yell if anything happens."  
Tucker and Sam nodded as Danny stood up, and ran out into the school hall. He needed to find somewhere secluded to go ghost.  
As he turned a corner, he was stopped by Paulina. She was giving him a seductive and evil look. He raised an eyebrow, confused, and tried to move around her. She only got in his way.  
"What's the big hurry, Danny?" she asked in a strange tone.  
"Paulina, I really don't have time," he sighed, annoyed.  
"Not even for me?" She moved close to his face, and looked into his eyes.  
Two years ago, Danny would have turned intangible from the butterflies in his stomach. He only stared at her, coldly.  
"Come on," she smiled taking his hand leading him to the janitor's closet. "Let's have some fun!"  
Danny pulled his hand out of hers and stopped. He glared at her, and turned his back to start to run away.  
She grabbed his hand again, firmly. No one denies Paulina.  
"Hey," she scorned him. "I said come in here with me."  
Danny again took back his hand.  
"No, Paulina," he growled. "I have more important things to do than play victim for you right now."  
With that, he spun on his heels and made his way to the school gym.  
Paulina stood in the middle of the hall, dumbfounded. She had never been turned down before, especially not by a nerd.  
Dash peaked his head out of the closet to see a frustrated Paulina staring at Danny, running to the gym doors at the end of the hall.  
"What happened?" Dash questioned. "Where's Fenton?"  
Paulina ignored him.  
"He turned me down," she hissed. "No one turns me down."  
Dash looked at her and smiled. Maybe the original plan of "lure Danny into the closet and wail on him" wasn't as cruel as unleashing Paulina's wrath on him.  
"What is that loser's problem?!" Paulina suddenly exploded, ripping Dash away from his evil plan.  
"Calm down, we'll make Fenton sorry," Dash told her, pounding his fist in his hand. "He's gonna be sorry I failed my math quiz."  
"NO!" she cried. "That's not important! Danny Fenton has chased after me for years, and now he's all about that Goth freak Sam Manson!"  
Paulina's eyes flashed towards the gym doors, which Danny had just run through.  
"He'll see…" she sprinted towards the gym doors.  
Dash started after her, but concluded that it wasn't smart to get in her way. When Paulina wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it.  
The gym doors burst open, and Paulina found an empty room. She looked all around, to see the locker room doors slowly closing.  
'_He's in there!_' Paulina thought to herself and ran to the doors.  
She slowly peaked her head in to see the locker room empty except for Danny towards the back.  
"I'm gonna claw your eyes out with my perfectly manicured nails…" Paulina whispered to herself, slipping through the door quietly.  
Suddenly, Danny raised his arms in the arm and Paulina jumped behind a locker, suspicious.  
"GOING GHOST!" he said, transforming into his ghost half.  
Paulina's jaw practically fell to the floor as nerdy, loser Danny Fenton turned into hot, incredible Danny Phantom. Paulina nearly slapped herself for not being able to see that Fenton was Phantom. She had been obsessed with him for almost two years, and she just found out the nerd she had turned down for years was him!  
She hid behind the locker as Danny flew out of the door to continue his search for the mystery ghost.

Suddenly, the temperature of the locker room drastically fell. Paulina shivered and started to walk towards the door.  
"Hello, child," a voice called to her.  
She spun around to see Desiree, the wish granting ghost.  
"Is there something you desire?" she asked the frozen teenage girl.  
Paulina shook her head. She had seen Desiree before, she wasn't the scariest ghost out there.  
"Get lost," Paulina snapped. "I have other stuff to worry about…"  
Paulina turned her back to Desiree, who glared at her. She shook her head; she knew she needed to remain calm if she wanted the plan to go through.  
"I see you are unhappy," Desiree whispered. "Just know that my offer stands if you decide you want anything. I will give it to you."  
Paulina thought for a second, and walked out of the door to find Danny. Desiree smiled. Step one of the plan was complete.

Danny flew invisibly through the whole school, three times. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. So why did his ghost sense go off?

He sighed and changed back in a bathroom, running to his fifth period class that he was now late for.  
He opened the door slowly and successfully slipped into his seat in between Sam and Tucker, without Mr. Lancer noticing.  
"Anything?" whispered Sam.  
"No," Danny admitted. "Nothing or no one."  
"Weird," Tucker commented, turning his attention back down to his PDA hidden behind his textbook so Lancer couldn't see.  
Paulina, who sat two seats ahead of them, finally noticed Danny's presence. She smiled evilly at him, until she saw he turn to Sam who was whispering something she could not hear from that distance.  
"I'm glad you're safe," Sam said with a blush.  
Danny smiled and blushed back.  
Paulina nearly burst into laughter when she saw the only thing that stood between her and Danny Phantom was the loser Goth girl. Paulina was the head cheerleader. She controlled the school in the palm of her hand. Sam was on the total opposite side of the social scale: unpopular, and weird. Stealing Fenton from her would not be a challenge, despite his seeming lack of interest during the hallway incident.


	2. Chapter Two

The bell rang loudly though out the entire school.  
Danny smiled as he and his friends exited through the front door. It was a pretty good day aside from the random ghost sense during lunch.  
"Well guys, I'm gonna head home," Tucker looked at Sam and Danny.  
"Meatloaf for dinner?" Danny laughed.  
"YEP!" Tucker smiled. "How'd you know?"  
"You never really ditch us this early after school unless it's meatloaf night at your house," Sam laughed too.  
Tucker laughed and turned to walk home.  
"See ya," he called back to them.  
Danny and Sam waved to him and turned back to each other.  
"Want me to fly you home?" he asked nervously.  
Sam smiled and nodded.  
Without warning, they both heard Paulina call out to them.  
"Danny! Sam!"

They both turned to see Paulina smiling, and approaching them.  
Sam glared at her, suspicious. Danny stared at her, confused. After their encounter earlier, he didn't know what she could want.  
"Hi," she said smiling innocently when she finally caught up to them.  
The three of them stood in silence for a few moments. Sam was about to say something when she was cut off.  
"So, Danny," Paulina finally began. "I was hoping I could talk to you for a-"  
"No," Danny interrupted her before she could finish.  
Sam looked surprised at Danny. He just turned down Paulina. The Paulina. The girl he'd liked for longer than she could remember. And for some reason, she blushed again.  
Controlling her reaction, Paulina spoke again.  
"I wanted to apologize to you for earlier," she clarified.  
Danny and Sam's jaws dropped. Paulina simply smiled in response. Sam suddenly was very interested. What had happened between them earlier, and why did she want to apologize for it?  
Danny stood there debating. Paulina had treated him horribly for years. Why the sudden change of heart?  
"I was hoping we could take a walk?" she asked.  
"Uh, I promised Sam I'd walk her home," Danny finally said.  
Sam wanted to know what Paulina was up to. She was never this nice, and she certainly never apologized for anything.  
"I can walk alone," Sam said sheepishly.  
Danny raised an eyebrow at her. She gave him no emotion back, but he turned to Paulina, slightly annoyed. Anything that took his time with Sam away from him annoyed him.  
"Alright Paulina," he said. "Five minutes."  
She squealed and grabbed Danny's hand pulling him away. He turned to face Sam who was waving to him, before turning to make her own way home.  
Sam walked looking down at the ground. She regretted giving up her time with Danny, especially for someone as shallow as Paulina.  
Danny sighed. Clearly, Paulina did not understand the concept of time. Five minutes had become fifteen as they slowly made their way to the park.  
Finally arriving, they sat down under a tree. The sun had just started to set.  
Danny waited; Paulina had not said a word since they walked away from Sam.  
"I just wanted to say sorry for earlier," Paulina said batting her lashes with the fakest, saddest expression on her face.  
"I forgive you," Danny said, not really meaning it, just wanting to get out of there. He turned away from her, and his ghost sense went off again. He began to look around when Paulina continued to speak.  
"Not just today earlier," she continued.  
Danny looked over at her, surprised.  
"I mean all the times I've been mean to you," she said.  
Danny was extremely confused at this point. What was this? Was Kitty overshadowing Paulina again? He did not understand, but he also did not want to chance asking her and revealing his secret.  
He said nothing as he continued to try to figure out what was happening with both her, and why his ghost sense went off again when there was seemingly nothing wrong.  
Floating invisibly above them, Desiree watched the conversation with an evil smile. All of the pieces were falling into place for her.  
"I just never really realized how cute and smart and funny you were," Paulina continued, sounding a bit too flirty.  
'_Something is definitely not right here_,' Danny thought to himself as Paulina inched closer to him.  
"Are you okay, Paulina?" he asked, backing away from her advance.  
"Me?" she laughed. "Never better!"  
"Than what is this? You're never this nice to me."  
Paulina shook her head, still laughing.  
"Danny, I just realized how great of a guy you really are! I realized I was so stupid to turn you down all those years. And I wanted to make it up to you."  
His eyes grew wide as she cupped her hands around his face. He couldn't speak, there was too much shock. Without looking away, she slowly pressed her lips to his. Danny didn't respond. He sat there frozen while Paulina tried to kiss him. After several seconds, she realized he wasn't moving, and he backed away from her.  
"I'm confused," she frowned. "Isn't this what you wanted?!"  
"I used to," Danny said, standing and whipping his lips on his sleeve.  
Paulina scowled at him, she knew the second rejection was coming.  
"Look," he said, angry. "I used to like you Paulina, and in that time, you were always horrible to me, Sam and Tucker. You used to make fun of us and humiliate me in front of the school. I never really cared, because I was so into you. And I put a lot of feels I already had to the side because of you."  
Paulina's glare grew more intense. She knew where he was heading.  
"Feelings I now realize I should have acted upon a long time ago," he said, about to take his leave. "Look, I forgive you for today, but I have to go find Sam now."  
"UGH!" Pauling muttered in disgust, causing Danny to turn back and look at her. "That freaky Goth girl?! REALLY?!"  
Danny's eyes flashed green. He hated it when anyone talked down about Sam. Paulina missed the flash of his eyes and continued.  
"Seriously! I'm ten times hotter and more popular than she'll ever be! Anyone in their right mind would pick me over her in a heartbeat! Use your head Danny, I'm superior and you know it."  
"Don't ever say anything bad about Sam again," Danny threatened.

Paulina stopped and looked at him.

"She's so much better of a person than you'll ever be, Paulina. Now goodbye."  
With that, Danny stormed off. He had it set in his mind to never speak to her again. And now with this new determination, he was going to finally tell Sam how he felt.

Paulina watched him walk off. She was fuming.  
'_If only that stupid Gothic Sam wasn't around! Danny would be mine!_'

She put her face on her hands and pouted. She had never been denied what she wanted, and she didn't like the feeling.  
"My my," a familiar voice filled the silence around Paulina. "Such a shame that boy doesn't want you anymore."  
Desiree appeared in front of Paulina, smirking.  
Paulina finally saw what Desiree was getting at.  
"Why are you helping me?" she asked the genie ghost.  
"It is my job to help those in need!" she laughed evilly. "Now child, tell me what you want, and I will give it to you!"  
After a few moments of silence, Paulina made her wish.  
"I wish Danny Fenton was in love with me and not that freak Sam Manson."  
Desiree shook her head, and Paulina waited.  
"I can not make him fall in love with you," Desiree clarified. "But we can make it so your competition isn't in the way."  
Paulina smiled, understanding now what Desiree was saying.  
"Well I wish Sam Manson was gone."  
Desiree raised her glowing hand, smiling.

"But!" Paulina stopped her. "Not dead or anything…just, gone so that Danny didn't know where she was. And somewhere where she can't get back alone!"  
Desiree smiled, nodding and waving her hands.  
"And so you have wished it, so shall it be!"  
Sam had been home for almost twenty minutes.  
"Where is Danny?" she asked herself, cleaning her room to keep herself entertained.  
Suddenly, Sam felt weak. She started swaying and grabbed on to her dresser for support.  
"What—what is-" she tried to choke out, but felt dizzy.  
She looked around one last time, but all she saw was pink light surrounding her.  
And then everything went black.


	3. Chapter Three

Danny was lying on his bed trying to make sense of the Shakespeare homework Lancer had assigned to the class.  
He sighed, frustrated. He never understood old English the way that Sam could.  
Sam! She would be able to help him.  
He threw his textbook into his purple backpack, and transformed to Danny Phantom. He flew through the window and across the city to Sam's mansion. It was only seven o'clock at night.

Danny phased into her empty room and looked around, the dark room was only illuminated by a purple lamp in the corner.  
Putting his book bag on her bed, he whispered her name. Silence was his only answer.

'_Maybe she's eating dinner downstairs or something,_' Danny thought.  
He resolved to wait for her, and began again trying to decode the Shakespeare sonnets.

* * *

_Sam entered the room a few minutes later, and smiled when she saw Danny sitting on her bed. He returned her smile, and moved over to make room for her. She sat down willingly, and scooted close to him. Closer than she ever had before.  
Danny said nothing but was surprised. He looked down and saw the class ring his father had given him to give a girl friend on her ring finger. His cheeks flooded red when she nuzzled into his chest and sighed.  
"Danny, I have to tell you something," she breathed.  
His head was filled with the scent of lilies and vanilla, the perfume she always wore.  
"I love you, Danny," she whispered.  
"I love you too, Sam."  
He pulled her face to his, and they shared a gentle kiss.  
_

* * *

Danny shot up, confused and practically the color of a tomato. He had fallen asleep in Sam's bed. The whole thing was a dream.  
His eyes scanned the real world around him, still no Sam in the room. He looked over to her alarm clock, and gasped. It was 12:30 in the morning. Where was she? He packed up all of his school supplies and phased through the house. All of the lights were off and every one in the house was asleep.  
Danny was puzzled; where could Sam be?  
After a few more minutes of searching, he went back to Fenton Works. He told himself she was spending the night somewhere, though he couldn't figure out where.

* * *

The next day was boring. By the time lunch finally rolled around, Danny was ready to go home.

He brought his unfinished Shakespeare homework to the table, hoping Sam would help him then. He met Tucker at the table, and laughed when he saw Tucker had the same unanswered worksheet on Shakespeare.  
"Where is Sam?" he looked up, stress clear on his face. "She promised she would help me with this yesterday, but she never called or came over!"  
Danny sat down, laughing.  
"Yeah, I flew there last night but she wasn't home. I guess we'll just have to wait for her to get here."  
Fifteen minutes had come and passed as the two boys tried to understand the old English sonnets. They had no luck. Sam never showed up to the table, leaving the boys to fail their English homework. On the other side of the cafeteria, Paulina smiled. She hadn't seen Sam all morning, and Danny didn't seem concerned at all. All she had to do was pick the right time to make a move.

* * *

The rest of the Danny was even slower than the first half, now that Danny was beginning to notice Sam's absence.  
Tucker was slightly aware now, too. When the final bell rang, they had both decided to walk to Sam's house together to see if she was sick.  
A butler answered the door, and looked down at the two boys.  
"Can I help you?" he asked politely.  
"We're here to see Sam," Danny told him.  
"Samantha is not in," he responded.  
The two boys looked at each other.  
"Do you know where she is?" Tucker asked.  
"I honestly have not seen her since yesterday afternoon," the butler replied. "I am sorry I can not be of assistance to you."  
Danny was frozen in place. No one knew where Sam was. No one had seen her for over twenty-four hours.  
Sam was missing.  
Once the door was gently closed, Danny transformed and grabbed Tucker as they flew to the park.  
"Danny, dude!" Tucker yelled as they were flying. "You didn't even look around! What if someone saw you change?!"  
"You're missing the big picture here, Tuck!" Danny scolded him. "No one knows where Sam is! What if she's in danger?"  
All the blood drained from Tucker's face as he realized Danny was right. No one actually knew where Sam was.

They landed in the same spot Danny had spoken to Paulina in, and Danny paced back and forth.  
"What can we do?" he begged Tucker for an answer.

"Danny Phantom?!" Paulina suddenly popped out from behind the tree. "Or should I say Danny Fenton?"  
Tucker's eyes grew wide and Danny narrowed his.  
"What are you talking about, Paulina?" Tucker finally asked.  
"Save it, loser, I saw him change yesterday," Paulina smirked.  
"Have you told anyone?" Tucker gasped, while Danny remained silent.  
Danny could not even force himself to care that Paulina knew his secret. Some part of him knew she was aware of what had happened to Sam.  
"No, I haven't," Paulina looked past him to see Danny's eyes glowing brightly. "But I might if a certain someone doesn't ask me out soon…"  
Tucker's shock was now replaced by rage.

"You can't be serious, Paulina!" he shouted.  
"Oh, but I am," she laughed.  
She walked up to Danny's silent figure, looking at him seductively.  
"So Danny, is there anything you want to ask me?"  
"Yes," Danny finally spoke.

Tucker's eyes widened at the tone of his voice, and Paulina flinched a few inches back.  
"Where is Sam?" Danny asked, his voice dripping with acid.  
Paulina quickly composed herself.  
"Sam who?" she teased.  
Without warning, Danny was holding her against the tree. She starred at him, wide-eyed and afraid.  
"What did you do to her?" Danny's voice was sharper than a knife.

"I honestly don't know!" Paulina cried.  
Danny's eyes were burning now. He knew Paulina was responsible for this. He was sure of it.  
Tucker quickly approached his best friend. Danny's body had begun to glow green with rage. Tucker put a hand on his shoulder, and the green slowly faded.  
Danny relaxed his muscles, and took his arms off of Paulina's shoulders. She sank down to the ground, looking at up at Danny. His eyes ere locked on hers, but they held a softer expression.  
"Paulina, what did you do to Sam?" he tried again, his voice softer yet still harsh.  
"I made a wi-" Paulina was cut off when Desiree's hand clamped down on it.  
Danny jumped back and pushed Tucker behind him.  
"Ah, Danny Phantom!" Desiree chirped. "It's been a while!"  
"So you're the one who made my ghost sense go off," Danny said, rising in the air to face her. "Wanna tell me what you're doing here?"  
"Sam thing I'm always doing," she replied. "Granting wishes, creating chaos, making girls disappear…"  
Danny's eyes widened. He flew to the ghost with blinding speed and grabbed her by her necklace.  
"Where did you take her?" he growled.  
Desiree laughed at him, before disappearing out of his grip, only to reappear behind him.

"You'll get no answers from me," she said, shooting Danny with a beam before he could turn around.  
Danny crashed into the ground to see Paulina running away from them. He glared at her, and rose to face Desiree again.  
"I won't ask you again," he said bitterly, letting his hands glow green. "Where is Sam?"  
Desiree laughed and shot him again with another ecto blast.  
"I won't answer to a lowly halfa," she laughed.  
"Then answer to me!" Tucker shouted, making his presence known to her.  
Desiree turned down to the tiny mortal and laughed.  
"I wish you would tell me where Sam is!" he screamed at the ghost.  
Desiree's laughing ceased, and her body began to shake. She revolted against granting the wish with all of her strength, but to no avail. Her hand began to glow pink, and she moved it in front of her.  
Danny watched as where her hand appeared, Walker and two of his ghost guards appeared. He quickly closed his eyes in concentration, and appeared in front of Tucker, protectively.  
"Curse you!" Desiree yelled.  
Walker grinned at Desiree.  
"Very good," he said. "You're part of the deal is over. You may leave now."  
Danny raised an eyebrow at them, but kept his hands to his side building energy.  
"What's going on?!" Tucker questioned.  
The group of ghosts seemed to ignore both he and Danny.  
"I thought I got to destroy the ghost boy!" Desiree glared at him.  
Walker laughed harder.  
"He's a wanted fugitive in my prison. Destroying him now would be against the rules."  
He not turned to face Danny and Tucker.  
"Yes," Walker explained. "Your precious girlfriend is in my jail."  
He held out his palm and suddenly, a vision appeared before all of them.  
They could seem Sam, unconscious, floating in suspended animation with a large metal collar around her neck.  
Danny's eyes widened in horror at the site of the girl he loved trapped. (**A/N: This is before they met Wulf, so they don't know what the shock collars are.**)  
"What is that?!" he screamed pointing to the collar.  
Walker ignored the question.  
"You'll have to trade your freedom for hers, Ghost Boy," Walker explained. "I'll see you soon."  
There was a bright flash, and Walker was gone. Desiree glared at the ground. Walker had cheated her in their deal.  
Tucker took advantage of everyone's silence, pulling out his Fenton Thermos and quietly uncapping it.  
"I wish Paulina, and anyone she might have told, forgot my secret," Danny whispered, now aware of Tucker's movements.  
Desiree sighed, knowing she had no chance. She raised her pink hand, and waved it.  
Once Tucker knew it was done, he raised the thermos and captured her unsuspecting form in the bright blue beam. She screamed in protest as she was sucked into the tiny canister.  
Danny looked at Tucker who was sealing the thermos tightly.  
"Are you really gonna turn yourself in?" he finally asked.  
Danny shook his head, thinking.  
"We'll figure something out," he responded. "We just have to get Sam out of there. Come on, Tuck."  
He grabbed Tucker's wrist, and the two flew off to Fenton Works.


	4. Chapter Four

Tucker was driving the Specter Speeder while Danny instructed him on how to get to Walker's jail.

Once they arrives, Danny jumped out, ecto energy glowing in his hands. There were no guards. Tucker walked up next to him slowly, prepared for anything.  
They were met with nothing but silence.  
Danny changed back to his human form and locked a wrist ray onto his arm. Together, the both of them silently phased through the walls of the ghost jail. The explored through endless halls and noticed prisoners in cells, but no guards, and most importantly, no Sam.  
They searched with no luck for over ten minutes. Finally Danny stopped. He punched a wall, which his human hand went straight through.  
"Damn it," he muttered. "Sam, where are you?"  
Tucker walked over to Danny when he noticed the floor sounded hallow. Danny looked up to Tucker, who was now stomping his feet all around the floor.  
"Or course!" Tucker concluded. "Danny, we have to go underground!"  
Danny's eyes lit up. He changed to his ghost half and phased them both down through the floor. The room they found was a huge cell with no doors or any form of an exit. The second they landed, they were grabbed by some of Walter's ghost guards.  
The guards took all of their weapons: the thermos, wrist rays, and specter deflectors.  
"Hey!" Tucker and Danny shouted in unison.  
They struggled against the guards but to no avail.  
Walker approached them out of nowhere, laughing.  
"So the Ghost Boy and his sidekick came," he smiled menacingly at them.  
"Look Walker," Danny said as he continued to struggle. "I'm here, so where is Sam?"  
Walker snapped his fingers and two more ghost guards appeared, each holding Sam up by one of her arms.  
"Sam!" Danny shouted.  
He turned back to glare at Walker, who was laughing.  
"Let her go now," Danny commanded.  
Walker smirked at him.  
"You don't get to make the rules," Walker said, raising a small remote towards Sam.  
Danny watched, confused, as Sam began to squirm against the two arms holding her. She did not take her eyes off of the remote.  
"And you know what I do to people who break the rules?" Walker asked as he followed Danny's gazed to Sam. "I make them suffer."  
Walker hit the button and Sam began to scream. Tucker and Danny watched as the collar electrocuted her violently.  
"STOP!" Danny screamed. "PLEASE STOP!"  
Walker only laughed more.  
""I already told you, you don't make the rules."  
He pressed the button again.  
If Tucker and Danny thought Sam was loud before, she was deafening now. The electricity that wrapped around her body was so strong, Danny and Tucker could feel their hairs standing up.  
Danny realized the more he protested, the more pain Sam would feel. He quickly shut his mouth praying it would end.  
The blue light disappeared, and Sam hung limp in the guards' arms.  
Danny felt tears pooling in his eyes.  
"I surrender," Danny said quietly.  
"Excellent," Walker replied.  
Walker waved his hands and Sam thrown to the floor in front of Danny and Tucker.  
Danny had to fight every muscle in his body as it twitched towards Sam. He knew Walker would shock her if he moved a muscle.  
Suddenly Danny and Tucker were released and looked over to Walker.  
"Since I'm the compassionate warden that I am," Walker said. "I'll give the three of you ten minutes to say your goodbyes. Then you come with me, ghost punk."  
The guard all faded out of the room, and Danny was kneeling at Sam's side no more than a second later.  
He lifted her to his chest and Sam groaned in pain. Danny noticed she was still trembling.  
"I'm so sorry Sam," Danny whispered to her.  
Tucker knelt beside them and put a hand on her shoulder. Danny was suddenly aware of the tears spilling onto his jump suit. His response was to hold her more tightly.  
"You two need to get out of here," Sam surprised the both of them by whispering.  
"Sam," Danny could barely speak. "I won't leave you again."  
Tucker was silent, studying the metal collar around her neck. He realized it was locked by a password digit code, and he found a small input Jack on the device.  
Tucker smiled, and reached into his pocket, producing his PDA.  
"I have a plan," he smiled.  
Before explaining to either of them, he plugged his PDA into the collar, and began hacking into it. He knew getting the collar off was the top priority of the moment.  
Within seconds, the PDA beeped, and Tucker pressed a button. The collar popped off instantly, and Sam's hands flew to her neck.  
Danny watched as the collar fell to the floor, and then investigated Sam's neck. It was red and blistered. He grabbed the collar, and looked at Tucker.  
"What's the plan?" Danny asked.

Walker and his guards reappeared no later than exactly ten minutes from when they left. They entered the room only to find Sam curled in a ball where they had left her.  
Walker was appalled.  
"Well I guess they abandoned you," he said down to Sam.  
She looked back up, frightened of him. He reached down and roughly grabbed her wrist, holding her to his eye level.  
"I guess that means he left you to face his punishment," Walker grinned at her.  
In the corner of the room, out of sight, Danny tightly gripped Tucker's wrist. It was hard to watch him treat Sam so horribly again.  
"Calm down dude!" Tucker whispered to him.  
Danny loosened his grip and kept the invisible. They slowly floated over to where Walker was holding Sam.  
"I guess we'll start now," he said, raising the remote up.  
Before he could press the button, invisible Tucker locked the collar around Walker's neck.  
Reacting to the tightening around his neck, Walker pushed the button, only be to be shocked by his own collar. His muscles, however, locked, and the currents traveled through his hand into Sam. The shock was not nearly as painful as before, but she still screamed in immense pain.  
Danny dropped his invisibility and lunged for Sam, turning her intangible and flying both of his friends out of there. Once they were out of the basement floor, Danny carried Sam while Tucker ran beside him. She was still too weak to run.  
They three sped for the exit of the jail, only to be surrounded by Walker's guards.  
He turned to Tucker and handed him Sam.  
"Get her out of here," he commanded. "I'll be right behind you."  
Tucker didn't argue. He carried Sam and ran through the closest wall. Before any of the guards could follow them, Danny jumped in front of the wall they had escaped through, guarding it.  
Walker emerged from the group of his guards, an angry scowl upon his white face.  
"You better get this collar off of me, Ghost Boy," he threatened.  
Danny smirked and shook his head.  
"Don't know how!" Danny stuck his tongue out.  
Walker growled and pointed his finger at Danny, summoning his guards to attack. Danny braced himself and let his ghostly wail out. The power sent every guard flying backwards, crashing into a wall. None of them were able to get back up.  
Danny stopped his attack, seeing only Walker left standing.  
"Looks like it's just you and me, Sheriff Texas Ranger," Danny mocked.  
Walker made no expression and simply snapped his fingers. A new row of guard appeared.  
Danny frowned.  
"Hiding behind your guards? Isn't that against the rules or something?" Danny questioned as he threw ecto blasts at the charging guards. Once he finished the second round off, he tried to catch his breath.  
Walker snapped again, and several more phased through the room. He stood there among his men, victorious. Danny glared at him and began his attack again.  
Thirty seconds later, some of the guards from the first wave were beginning to get up again.  
"You can't win here, Ghost Boy," Walker told him.  
Danny knew his strength wouldn't last him much longer. He just hoped Tucker had gotten Sam far away by then.  
Much to his surprise, Tucker jumped through the wall and landed next to him, PDA in hand.  
"Not so fast, Walker!" Tucker yelled, confidence strong in his voice. "Call off the attack and let us leave, and I won't hurt you too badly."  
Walker and his army only laughed. What could this weak boy do?  
Danny grabbed Tucker and pulled him close.  
"What are you doing?!" he demanded. "Is Sam safe?"  
"Relax Danny," he reassured his friend. "She's in the Specter Speeder with the ghost shield up. She's fine."  
Tucker then turned back to face the crowd of enemies.  
"ALRIGHT WALKER!" he continued. "ONE LAST CHANCE TO BACKDOWN!"  
Danny watched his friend curiously, but ready to fight again.  
Walker had enough at that point.  
"Finish them," he commanded.  
Tucker smiled and pressed the center button of his PDA. Suddenly, the shock collar around Walker's neck activated, and Walker screamed out in pain. The attacking guards all stopped to face him.  
"STOP!" Walker cried in agony.  
"But that's against the rules," Danny taunted him, taking the PDA and pressing the button again.  
Walker screamed even louder, and fell to the ground in pain.  
"Call off the guards and we'll stop the-" Tucker said removing the PDA from Danny's hands.  
"FALL BACK MEN!" Walker cried before Tucker could even finish.  
Once all the soldiers had backed off, Tucker turned the collar off.  
"I've locked that collar with a ten thousand code password," Tucker explained as Walker's eyes flashed with rage. "There's no way to take it off."  
"And if you ever come near Sam or any of us again," Danny continued for him. "Well, you know."  
With that, Danny and Tucker phased through the walls and exited the jail. Tucker took the driver seat while Danny went in to the back.  
Sam was waiting for him, lying on a medical table.  
She smiled when he entered. He looked down sadly at her, and tried to smile.  
"I'm sorry this happened, Sam," he said.  
"It wasn't your fault," she reassured him.  
He shook his head and sighed in frustration, once again noticing the red blisters from the collar.  
He waited for her to move, but she didn't.  
"Sam, why aren't you moving?" he finally asked.  
"Tucker said I won't be able to for a few hours," she sighed.  
Danny's face lit up with anger. He phased through to the front of the Specter Speeder, only to return with Tucker's PDA seconds later. He held it up for Sam to see, and pushed the button.  
Everything remained still, and Sam gave him a confused look.  
"That shock collar Walker had on you," Danny explained. "It's on him now. And we control it."  
Sam didn't say anything. She just stared at Danny. Sam was never one for cruel and unusual punishment, especially if it had been inflicted upon her. After a couple of seconds, he turned it off and sat beside her.  
"I'm just glad to have you back, Sam," Danny said, putting one hand on her check.  
He was worried that may had been too much, but she smiled softly at him.  
Danny decided it would be better to wait to tell her how he really felt. She was in no shape to hear it.  
"Why don't you get some rest?" he offered. "I'll be up in the front with Tucker."  
Suddenly, panic filled Sam's eyes, and Danny caught it.  
"Please don't leave," she barely managed to whisper.  
He nodded and smiled down at her. She once again smiled back. He sat beside her on the bed and put his hand over hers, happy to know she was safe with him again.

The next day, Sam stayed home from school. Danny flew to see her before school, during lunch, and immediately after school to make sure she was ok. Though she thought it might have been a bit much, she was happy to know he cared so much.  
Sam returned to school on Friday with a fake doctor's note. She took the day like any other, but Danny was constantly by her side.  
"Are you under Ember's love spell again?" she teased him as they made their way to the gym for their PE class together.  
'_No, I just really care about you._' Danny thought.  
He laughed with her as they made their way into the gym. There on the other side of the volleyball net, he saw Paulina talking to Starr, Dash, and Kwan.  
His eyes flashed green at the sight of Paulina. Sam reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. Danny had told Sam everything that happened before Desiree sent her to Walker's jail. He took a deep breath and calmed down, walking over to the locker room to change.  
Once he was out, the teacher separated the class into halves for a dodge ball match. Danny was put onto the same team as Sam and Paulina. Sam walked over to stand next to him as Paulina approached them.  
Danny frowned at her and Paulina looked at him in disgust.  
"What do you want, loser?" she barely looked at him.  
"Nothing, Paulina," Danny smiled knowing that Desiree had erased her memory of his secret identity.  
Paulina scoffed and walked away. Sam and Danny just laughed and prepared to play dodge ball with the rest of their class.  
Neither of them knew what their next adventure would be, but they knew they would face it together.


End file.
